Singh opens with even-par round at Pebble Beach

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Just a day after meeting with commissioner Tim Finchem to discuss his use of a banned substance, Vijay Singh was back inside the ropes Thursday for the opening round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Singh birdied the final hole to shoot an even-par 72 at Pebble Beach Golf Links and leave himself six shots off the early pace.

Few details have emerged from Singh’s one-on-one sit-down with Finchem, other than one source telling Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis on Wednesday that reviews of the meeting were “mixed.”

Singh, who turns 50 later this month, admitted last week to using a deer-antler spray that may contain the chemical IGF-1, which is banned by every major professional sports organization, including the PGA Tour.

The Tour’s anti-doping policy, which was initiated in 2008, states that a player’s first doping violation can result in a suspension of up to a year, but Finchem can rule as he deems necessary. The Tour likely will not comment until it completes its own review.

On Thursday, Singh mixed four birdies with four bogeys and showed few ill-effects from the back injury he suffered last week, which was the official reason he withdrew from the Waste Management Phoenix Open. In two starts this season, he tied for 20th at the Sony Open and was T-27 at the Farmers Insurance Open.